Graph of the day: no good sign for Apple and other American giants

Wednesday afternoon it was announced that Apple will be fined by the European Commission because of tax evasion.

Apple is still on appeal but this is not a good sign for the US tech giant.

The fine is imposed because in accordance with European regulations Apple did not pay enough taxes in recent years. Apple pays only 1% tax. With this ruling, the European Commission evoked anger among US companies.

According to USA this statement undermines the progress made by the “international tax system”. In addition, the TTIP-trade agreement would now be called into question. The negotiations of this FTA would become less and less effective because USA doesn’t want to negotiate, according to France and Germany.

It is however no problem for Apple to pay the fine of EUR 13 billion, but it does give a clear signal to other US companies who are trying to evade tax in Europe. For example, there is an investigation going on to Amazon and Starbucks is being monitored.

The graph below shows that a fine of 13 billion dollar will have little impact on the cash position of Apple

Not all Americans react negatively to the European Commission’s ruling. Carl Levin, a former senator in America, says the IRS has been working for years to punish these major companies.